Fool
by jade
Summary: AU. He was an orphan, adopted by his aunt and uncle, who never really wanted him. He tries to make the best of what he has, but to a boy who has nothing, the only thing left are dreams that one day it gets better. COMPLETED!
1. Part the First

Welcome to the fifth story in the _Inferiorum _series! The first five stories in the series can be read in any order, so, if you haven't read any of the others yet, never fear! (Although I would recommend reading them in order...that order being **Doppelganger, Heretic, Adversary, Shape Shifter**, and then, of course **Fool**.) For those of you who already know this, just go on to the rest of the story…

Note: The reason I named this story fool is not in anyway insulting the main character. In Tarot, the first card of the Major Arcana, the Fool, usually means the beginning of something, where one doesn't know very much because they are a novice, one of the uninitiated. So, in this way, I'm using it to mean that it's someone beginning on a journey…

* * *

**Fool**

**Part the First**

"Character is what a man is in the dark."

-Dwight L. Moody

* * *

The room was completely dark and smelled musty. It was an old basement, as old as the house, and who knew how old that was? It had been in the Dursley family for years, even though they were not particularly rich. There was nothing to be done about the musty smell. No matter how many times it was swept and dusted, it was still a dank old basement.

There were spiders too. Not that he particularly minded spiders, especially after living with them for so long, but they were still there, weaving webs quietly in the corners and living out their short lives. At once point he had tried to clear them out, but they always came back, so he decided just to let them stay.

There was a very small window in one corner, high above his bed, so that if he stood on his bed and stood on his very tippy-toes, he could look out it. It wasn't particularly exciting though, just the ground.

Right now, he wasn't trying to look out it, he was sleeping. His mattress was old and lumpy and on an old creaky bed that sounded as though it would collapse in the middle of the night every time he got into it. His one blanket was getting holes in it. It was okay during the summer time, but in the winter, it was a job trying to stay warm. He would usually put on all the clothes he owned and curl up under the blanket. He didn't own a very big wardrobe either. His three outfits hung on a clothes line he had put up so that they wouldn't have to sit on the floor. He was wearing his pajamas, which had been hand me downs, as all his clothes were.

This young boy, who was twelve at the time, knew why it was that he always got hand me downs and had to sleep in the dank basement with the spiders.

It was because he was an orphan.

"And an orphan," His aunt told him, looking down her nose at him, the way she always did. "Is someone whose parents didn't want them."

That's what she would say if she was feeling particularly mean. Other times he was told that his parents had gotten themselves killed in an accident. He liked that explanation a little better, but only just. He didn't want to think that his parents hadn't wanted him, because that made being an orphan even more unbearably lonely than it already was. But the idea that they had died, well, it could mean that they had loved him but had been snatched away from him by events they couldn't control.

That's the sort of thing Harry Potter thought was comforting.

He was sleeping quite peacefully because last night, his uncle had had a dinner party and Harry had been washing the dishes until past midnight last night. When he came down to his room in the basement, with his hands all clammy, he had just fallen over onto his bed and gone straight to sleep.

But, he wouldn't be asleep for much longer.

In the basement, there was a set of bells, each labeled for a different room. Harry had gotten so used to them that he could just see what bell was ringing and know instantly which room it was. One of the bells began to ring and didn't stop for several minutes.

Harry shot out of bed groggily, putting on his clothes in such a practiced fashion that you could tell this was how he normally woke up. He went over to the bell and tugged back on it, so that his aunt and uncle would know he had heard it.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's room. That's which bell it was. They'd be wanting their breakfast and so would Dudley, his cousin. He grabbed his spectacles and went up the stairs, into the kitchen. It was a trap door that went to the basement and some mornings, if Dudley actually got up earlier than Harry, he would sit on the trap door so that Harry couldn't get out of the basement.

This morning he was lucky and got to go straight to work at making eggs and sausages and toast for breakfast. He was just making orange juice when he heard another bell ringing down there. Dudley. He groaned quietly. He finished his aunt and uncle's breakfast and loaded all up onto a tray, before leaving the kitchen. He to make the treacherous climb up the stairs—one of the hardest things to do while holding the tray because there wasn't quite enough room for him to hold the tray comfortably and be able to see the steps. Whenever he tripped and fell down the stairs, dropping a tray, he usually got locked in the basement for several days. Harry always thought they'd lock him in there longer but they hated doing anything for themselves.

He knocked on the door to the master bedroom and he heard a, "It's about bloody time, boy!" Harry managed to get the door open with a practiced balancing maneuver. He put the tray down on the small breakfast table which was a little ways away from his aunt and uncle's bed. Aunt Petunia was in her dressing gown and didn't look pleased to see him—not that she ever did.

"Here's your breakfast." Harry told them, mostly out of habit. No one was going to thank him. "I'll just be going then—"

"Don't you ever comb your hair? Or do you insist on looking like a vagabond?" Aunt Petunia interrupted him. "Someone even commented on it last night at the dinner party—saying our hired help could use some sprucing up—I almost died of shame."

"Sorry, Aunt Petunia." Harry apologized quickly. He was used to apologizing for things.

"Go, boy." Uncle Vernon ordered him out and Harry was only too happy to oblige. He had to get started on Dudley's breakfast anyways. As he went downstairs, Dudley ran up behind him, shoving him out of his way as he ran down. Harry rolled his eyes. Dudley had clearly done it just so he could shove Harry.

Dudley was blonde, blue-eyed, and was fat. He was the exact opposite of Harry who had jet-black hair, green eyes, and was extremely skinny.

"Where's my breakfast, orphan?" Dudley jeered at him as Harry past him on his way to the kitchen.

"I'm getting to it." Harry muttered impatiently.

"You better eat breakfast today too. You'll need your strength." Dudley told him. Harry looked at him in confusion. Him and Dudley hated each other and never did anything together. "Piers is coming over. We thought we'd play 'Harry Hunting'."

Harry's heart sank. Piers Polkiss, Dudley's best friend, often came over and the two of them found nothing so delightful as torturing Harry. Most often, the games ended in Piers holding Harry and Dudley using him as a punching bag.

"I have a lot of work to do." Harry began whisking eggs for Dudley's breakfast. "Your mother won't like it if you stop me from doing it." He knew it was a feeble threat. Aunt Petunia let her 'precious little Dudders' do anything he pleased. Still, he could hope.

"She won't care." Dudley leered and then turned to leave. "We'll be seeing you later, Potter." And then he went out of the kitchen. Scowling, Harry continued to make breakfast. After finishing the huge platter that Dudley devoured every morning, he went about his morning chores.

The Dursley family wasn't quite wealthy enough to have any servants but when they were given Harry, it didn't matter. It was free labor as far as they could see. Harry Potter had been left on the doorstep when he had been barely one year old with a letter, not that Harry knew about the letter, he only knew what Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon told him—which wasn't much.

The one thing they could never quite give was an explanation of the scar on his forehead. It was a strange lightening bolt shaped scared on the middle of his forehead, though it was partially hidden some of the time by his hair, which he found impossible to keep neat or tidy looking. It just grew in whatever direction it felt like—even defying gravity at times. He would look at the scar in the mirror and wonder how he had gotten it. Anytime he asked, he was told to stop asking so many questions.

_Which probably means it's an interesting story…_

The Dursleys didn't like Harry having any sort of strange notions either. They were all mundane and unimaginative people, but sometimes Harry liked to make things up. Like, he would make up stories about how really, his parents weren't dead, but they were in faraway places, maybe locked up in a prison by an evil emperor or something, but one day they would break free and they would come and find him there.

Or sometimes, he would imagine that one day he would be working in the yard and just get up and walk down the road—but instead of stopping, he just wouldn't. He would walk for days and days, going off to seek his fortune.

In his room, he had very few toys, he only got toys that Dudley stopped playing with or broke. He had a small set of soldiers—most of which Dudley had lost, but he still had about ten of them. He would lead them into fierce battles and somehow they would overcome the enemy (usually something like a stuffed animal that Dudley lost or something to that effect). But he had to do this all secretly in the basement because the one time he had been playing outside, Uncle Vernon had caught him and yelled at him for making up stories.

"THEY AREN'T REAL SOLDIERS!" He yelled into Harry's face. Of course they weren't real, Harry never thought they were actually real, but he didn't see the harm in _imagining _they were real. But to people like the Dursleys, imagination was a dangerous thing.

Harry decided that day that he wouldn't go outside. Aunt Petunia always insisted that Dudley and Piers had to play outside so they wouldn't break anything in the house. If Harry just stayed inside all day, then nothing bad could happen…right?

This plan would have succeeded brilliantly too, if it hadn't been for Uncle Vernon spoiling it.

"Why haven't you done the back hedges yet, boy?" Uncle Vernon asked him as Harry finished scrubbing the parlor floor. Of course. The hedges. Uncle Vernon had something about them yesterday but had been caught up in his dinner party so he hadn't noticed that Harry hadn't done them. But today was different. And if he didn't do them…

Bravely, Harry took the hedge clippers and went outside. It was afternoon and late enough in the afternoon that Piers and Dudley would probably go inside for food. He went down to the hedges, weren't really in that bad of shape, but he knew it wasn't worth it to argue with something Uncle Vernon told him to do.

He began to work on them and thought that he had indeed escaped a day of 'Harry Hunting' when something hit him in the back of the head. He turned around to see that it had been an apple and his cousin Dudley was grinning stupidly at his accomplishment. Piers Polkiss, the rat-faced boy who was always with Dudley seemed to think it was amusing as well. He was in for it now. Oh well, he wouldn't just let them hit him.

"Well done, you've hit me with an apple." Harry spoke sarcastically. "Pat yourselves on the back. It might take a bit of coordination but I suspect you'll both figure it out in the end."

"Are you calling us stupid?" Piers accused him.

"I'll let you work it out." Harry countered and tried to ignore them and go back to the hedges.

"Let's get him." Dudley suggested. Harry reacted as fast as he could. He dropped the hedge clippers and simply took off at top speed. Although he was skinny and a little small for his age, he was as fast as the wind.

The two boys came running after him. Well, Piers did at any rate. Dudley was huffing and puffing several yards behind them. Harry knew if he made it to the woods, he would be fine. It was really easy to hide in there.

But Piers leapt and tackled Harry to the ground. He struggled viciously, trying to bite and kick his way to freedom, but Piers was an expert at this. He dragged Harry to his feet and Dudley swiped at Harry's face, knocking his spectacles off his face. They didn't break this time, but they had broken in the past. Aunt Petunia constantly complained about how clumsy he was and how she shouldn't have to buy him new glasses.

And then Dudley laid him out, his massive fists pounding into Harry's stomach and his face. He'd be full of bruises and bleeding by the time Dudley stopped. With each hit, Harry ground his teeth, determined not to yell out in pain, which would have given Dudley some small bit of satisfaction.

They got sick of this and dropped Harry and ran back up to the house, talking about how hungry they were. Harry found his spectacles and sat up slowly. His head felt like it was made of lead. He crawled over to where he knew there was a stream and scooped up the cold water, splashing his face to wash away the blood. The cuts on his face began to sting because as he looked at the rippling reflection of himself in the water, salty tears made their way down his face. He sat there, looking at the stream and trying to stop crying. It wasn't really crying, not like he used to do. But now, he would wipe at his face in annoyance, trying to stop his own tears that seemed to just leak out. He sniffed a little.

_I don't belong here…I hate them…I hate them all…_

But he had nowhere else and knew no one else. He had never made any friends and didn't feel particularly close to _anyone_. He felt so out of step…this just wasn't his place. His real place was somewhere else, maybe with parents he never knew, or some faraway land or…or…

And now he would get up and probably get yelled at for not trimming the hedges. And then Aunt Petunia would tell him off because he wasn't around when she called for him or something.

A leaf fell from one of the trees and landed in the stream, staying there for only a minute before it was carried away. Harry wanted to follow it and see where it went…a better place. And so he went, trudging back, wondering if one day, something would change. But nothing ever did.

To a worthless orphan, even the smallest bits of kindness could mean the world. But there was no one to offer him even that.

To a worthless orphan, life hardly seems worth living.

* * *

**To Be Continued**

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	2. Part the Second

The blues before and after, the blues before and after loving you! Okay, I'll stop singing now. It's time to put on my Potions cd and write some more of this story! Are you ready for some more hardcore orphan action? (Um…that sounded a bit…hmm…) On with the story!

NOTE: It may have confused some of you last chapter but yes, indeed, I do have a reason for why Harry has his scar. I wouldn't just give him a scar and then never explain it—though it takes a bit before you learn why. So hold onto your hats!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Warnings: Some swearing. And Harry being the cutest little orphan in the world…(You know you thought Daniel Radcliffe was absolutely adorable in the first movie…)

* * *

**Fool**

**Part the Second**

* * *

Harry woke up feeling a small wriggly wonderful feeling in his stomach. There are few such occasions that cause this and one of them happens to be birthdays. Harry never understood why he loved his birthday so much, but it was always a great day to him.

He sprang up in bed, sitting there, grinning at his room.

"Thirteen today." Harry said importantly. It's not every day that you turned thirteen years old. Of course there was no reply. He had been planning for his birthday for a week now.

A few days ago, when he was at the market, he had bought himself a present. The Dursleys didn't give him any pocket money and they would have been able to tell if spent even a penny more than he was supposed to, but Harry found coins sometimes—under furniture, in the grass, while doing laundry. And each one he carefully saved, even though they were never really big coins.

Then, once a year, he would buy himself a present. He bought himself a chocolate bar this year. He had smuggled it into the house and into the basement where he immediately went about wrapping it. Presents had to be wrapped, it was a rule.

So he found some bits of parchment and glued them together around the present. Now it was wrapped and he could pretend he had no idea what was inside. He didn't have to worry about other presents—he never got any.

Then, he had only a scrap of parchment left and very carefully, with an ink quill that Dudley had thrown out and the tiniest bit of ink—he had to add water to it—let in an ink pot, he labeled the present very carefully. Presents also had labels. And on the label he wrote:

_To Harry, from his mum and dad_

He felt sure that if his parents were still alive, they would give him a present and so on his birthday, he always labeled his present that he got himself as being from his mom and dad. Harry stepped back from the present, which he laid on his pillow—he wouldn't have to worry about the Dursleys seeing either because they never bothered going down there—and surveyed his handiwork.

"Presents should have bows too." Harry said out loud. But he couldn't think of where he would find a bow so he just left it as it was.

At night, there was no light in the basement except for a candle that the Dursleys allowed him to have. But only one candle. Apparently he was enough of a burden to the budget already. Last night, Harry took his candle as always but didn't burn it. He had sat up in the dark until he finally fell asleep.

Last night, the Dursleys have a delicious pie for dessert and amazingly, Dudley had let a piece survive. Harry had taken the last piece and hidden it in his room. It was all going to come together that night.

All day he endured Dudley's taunts and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's constant yelling with a small smile on his face. Nothing could get him down on his birthday, the best day of his year. Every time someone said it was July, his whole face lit up and he thought about the one day when something good happened to him.

_Help those who help themselves…_

At night, when he finally, _finally _got downstairs and lit his nightly candle, it was time for his birthday celebration. He gathered up all his soldiers and had them set up, just because it made him feel like there was someone else celebrating with them. If he closed his eyes, he could just imagine a room full of people, aunts and uncles (but nice ones), cousins, and so on. And then, on either side of him, would be his parents.

His mother would put her hand on his shoulder and smile at him, encouraging him to open his present up.

"Wait until you see what you got this year." Harry said, speaking for someone else. And then he eagerly tore the wrapping paper off. A candy bar. His face lit up happily. "Thank you." Because he knew it was polite to say thank you.

Then he pulled out the piece of pie and even though he couldn't possible put the second candle in it, he put it in a candlestick holder next to it and lit it. The flame flickered back and forth and he closed his eyes once more, conjuring up the image of all the people around him.

This time his father leaned in and said…

"Make a wish, Harry." Harry smiled and thought hard on what his wish would be, even though it almost never came true.

_I wish that someone will come and take me away._

He opened his eyes and blew out the candle enthusiastically. Just as he was about to enjoy the piece of pie and his present, something thumped loudly overhead and the candle he had just blown out fell to the floor.

Harry looked around, feeling jolted.

_What was that noise?_

Once more, a great thump was heard, but he realized that it was not just one thump but several, right next to each other. Knocking, yes, that's what it was like, like really loud knocking.

Someone opened the door, he almost thought he could hear the front door creak, and then there was yelling. Harry couldn't figure out what was going on. More yelling and he almost thought he heard a really deep voice reply, but he couldn't really be sure.

Carefully, he made his way up the steps, as quietly as he could, because the Dursleys rather firmly believed that once he went down for bed, he shouldn't be wandering the house.

When he got to the trap door, he pushed it open slowly and climbed out, leaving it a little open in case he needed to run back down into the basement. He could hear the voices more clearly now. Aunt Petunia's shrieking, Uncle Vernon's insistent yelling, and a deep voice arguing with them.

Harry crept along to where the kitchen door was a little open and peered out into the foyer. His mouth dropped open at the fantastic sight he saw.

Standing in the doorway was a simply enormous man. He towered over Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. He was wearing a giant coat and it was hard to see his face with his long, bushy, wild dark hair and his equally wild beard.

"…He will absolutely not be going _anywhere_!" Petunia shook her finger at the man, but next to him, it looked tiny and Harry decided the huge man would probably not be deterred by it.

"We forbid you to go anywhere near the boy or this house." Vernon's face was going red from yelling. Harry swiveled a bit to see that, as he suspected, Dudley was sitting at the top of the stairs, spying on the whole thing. But what was going on? Who was this man?

"I'd like ter see yeh stop me." The huge man folded his arms and Harry secretly agreed with him. "Dumbledore told me ter find 'im and take 'im with me. Now where is he?"

"I'll call the Guard, you just see if I don't!" Vernon Dursley threatened him.

"I'm only gonna ask one more time, _where is Harry Potter_?" The huge man boomed and Petunia tried to hide behind Vernon. Harry was stunned. Why was he looking for _him_ of all people?

"I-I'm right here." Harry had mustered up his courage and decided to come out of the kitchen. The Dursleys looked absolutely livid that he had come out at all but the huge man strode past them and knelt down to look at him.

"Bit small." The man said, not really in a disappointed voice, but in a not approving way. He shot a glare to the Dursleys. "You been feeding 'im?"

"I'm alright." Harry wanted some answers. "But who are you?"

"I'm Hagrid." The huge man stuck out his hand towards him and Harry shook it, even though his own hand was ridiculously small in comparison. "I work fer Albus Dumbledore."

"Who?" Harry gave him a faintly puzzled look. He hadn't he foggiest.

"Albus Dumbledore." Hagrid repeated slowly, as though Harry just didn't hear him the first time. "You know, it was all in that letter yer parents left with you…"

"What letter?" Harry looked over at his aunt and uncle. "They left a letter?"

"We burned that letter!" Aunt Petunia shrieked from behind Uncle Vernon. "We got rid of it! We don't need any of…of…_that_ in our house."

"You didn't tell 'im what was in that letter!" Hagrid roared and Harry found himself instinctively taking a step back from him. "What were you thinkin'? 'E's supposed to start school!"

"School?" Harry looked around. "What the heck is going on?"

"You're forbidden to tell him anything!" Vernon shook his finger and Harry thought of how small and insignificant it looked next to this giant man.

"And yer gonna stop me?" Hagrid loomed over Uncle Vernon and the man could only go purple with rage. Then he turned towards Harry. "Harry, yer a wizard."

"A…a what?" Harry had heard of people who could use magic, he had vaguely heard of wizards, but everyone knew that was illegal and he couldn't possibly be…

"Yer a wizard." Hagrid reiterated. "So were yer parents."

"My parents could use magic?" Harry had never imagined that for them in all his daydreams about them. But then, somehow, it fit in. Something just clicked in his head that made him know that this stranger wasn't lying to them. He turned towards the Dursleys in confusion. "And you…knew?"

"Of course we knew!" Petunia threw her hands in the air as she shrieked. "My sister actually came to us asking for help! As if _we_ were going to help _them_! She never did think of anyone but herself! And that awful man she ended up marrying, him and her both just left you on our doorstep one day and then got killed!"

"They were killed? But you said it was an accident…" Harry knew he was babbling a little but this was a lot to take in at once. Everything that he thought he knew was wrong and there was a whole lot more than that that he didn't even suspect.

"Harry." Hagrid called attention to himself once more. "Harry…didn't expect…knew we might have some trouble but I didn't think…" Then he gathered himself up. "Your parents worked fer Albus Dumbledore as well…they were good people. You were a year old when they were killed. But they were careful; they protected you and sent you to live here." Hagrid made a face to show what he thought of the place. "They said that when you turned thirteen it would be time for you to come to learn magic."

"Learn magic? Me?" Harry wondered wildly if somehow his birthday wish had come true. That he was really going to leave. "But isn't that illegal?"

"It's hard ter explain." Hagrid put a huge hand on his shoulder. "The people who rule the country, they get rid of anyone who can do magic, except themselves. Kill 'em off. So we try to find 'em before they do and take 'em to a safe place, where Albus Dumbledore is, so they can learn magic themselves."

"I'm…going to leave?" Harry said it out loud, it was such an incredible notion that he was having a hard time drinking in much else. He knew he should be a little more concerned with the whole illegal thing and whether or not there really was a safe place to learn magic but at the same time…

_I'm going to leave the Dursleys. _

_ I'm going somewhere…somewhere where I actually belong._

To think that there would be no more ringing bells waking him up, no more Dudley pushing him around, no more getting yelled at by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. He beamed up at Hagrid, who even though it was hard to see his face, it was clear he was smiling a little back.

"You aren't going anywhere!" Vernon broke into the mood. "You're staying here! You'll stay here and learn to be normal and be grateful for it!"

"You should probably go and start packing yer things." Hagrid prompted him and Harry turned, running into the kitchen and flinging open the trap door. He grabbed a small sack and began shoving the tiny amount of clothes he had. He wasn't really sure what else to take, so he took his tin soldiers and then, without even hesitating, the birthday present.

_Even though I've gotten the best present in the world this year…_

_ I'm leaving the Dursleys!_

There was a lot of arguing going on the whole time and when Harry ran back up the steps and into the kitchen, it was clear it wasn't resolving itself. He stepped back out with his sack.

"I'm ready." He announced. Hagrid looked at his sack for a moment and Harry could tell he wasn't pleased with how little the boy obviously had.

"I thought I told you that you weren't going!" Vernon yelled at him. "You go back down there this instant, boy!"

"Don't get in my way, Dursley." Hagrid warned the man and pulled out a small pink umbrella. It looked a little ridiculous but Harry had the strangest feeling that it was somehow important. "I'm taking the boy with me."

"Oh, no you aren't!" Vernon grabbed Harry's arm and Harry suddenly had a sinking feeling. The Dursleys wouldn't let him go, he would have to stay here forever. This feeling only lasted a moment though. Hagrid's massive hand reached over and grabbed Vernon Dursley by his shirt, lifting him well off the ground. He let go of Harry in his attempt to get away from the huge man.

"You won't touch the kid again!" Hagrid roared and then turned towards Harry, quite calmly. "Go on out to the carriage, I'll take care of this."

He took one last look at the Dursleys and knew that he never wanted to see any of them again. He didn't even bother saying good bye to them, just went out the doors with Petunia shrieking behind him. He could hear some more yelling as he approached a carriage that was waiting outside for him.

Harry threw open the door and was a little surprised to see that somebody else was already sitting in there. A boy about his own age with an identical expression of surprise was looking back at him.

"Oh!" The boy exclaimed. "You must be who we stopped for. My name's Ron Weasley, what's yours?" He had such an open, friendly expression that Harry couldn't help but smile back at him as he crawled into the carriage.

"I'm Harry Potter." Harry told him. And then, Ron Weasley stuck his hand out towards him and Harry gratefully shook his hand.

___Everything's going to change…_

___ Everything's going to be great. _

* * *

**To Be Continued**

* * *


	3. Part the Third

I've been working really hard on my final speculations before the sixth book comes out for my web journal and so my room is a mess of HP books, reference books, and notes. I decided to ignore it all, put on some music, and write some fanfiction! Go me!

Goddessa39: Um…this is an AU. Meaning, the laws of the CU or 'canon universe' do not apply to my story. Thus, if I want Harry to go to big hideout in mountains to learn magic when he's thirteen, that's the way it is.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Warnings: Not really…oh, wait! But I can't warn you about _that_. The suspense wouldn't be as good if I warned you about _that_.

* * *

**Fool**

**Part the Third**

* * *

The carriage made its way down the long road. Hagrid was driving up front and the two boys were inside. When the carriage had first started out, Harry watched with relief through the curtains as the house he grew up rolled out of sight. He never wanted to see that place again…

But the red-haired, freckled boy across from him was a lot more interesting than watching scenery go by and they immediately started to get to one another.

"I can't wait to get there!" Ron declared. "My brothers have all gotten to go but my mum reckons that anyone below thirteen is too young to learn magic."

"Why?" Harry questioned.

"Dunno." Ron shrugged. "That's just the way she is. I never even get to visit when she goes—she says it's safer if just she goes."

"How many brothers do you have?" Harry was intrigued with the idea of having siblings. He hoped having any sort of siblings was nothing like living with Dudley.

"Three." Ron answered promptly then he stopped for a moment. "No, sorry, five. I keep forgetting about Fred and George."

"Alright." Harry was faintly puzzled by this. How could you forget that you had two extra brothers?

"I've never really met them…well, mum says I _have _but I just can't remember because it was so long ago." Ron shrugged. "They were sent away when they were little so they wouldn't get processed. They're twins."

"Twins!" Harry exclaimed. "I've heard about that…two people, looking just like each other…but aren't they bad luck?"

"Nah, my mum says that's just what the Death Eaters want us to think." Ron puffed up a little. "And then there's my little sister too—I do remember her. Ginny's her name. She got caught by slave traders when she wandered too far from the Burrow—that's we call our house—" Ron interjected when he saw the confused look on Harry's face. "But she was sold to this man and…it's kind of a long story…"

"I don't mind." Harry shook his head, curious to know the rest. "We have lots of time to pass, go on."

"So, when Fred and George were sent away, they were supposed to go straight to Dumbledore but the person who was taking them turned out to have tricked my mum." Ron continued. "They ran away and I think someone took them in or something like that. Then they left that person's place and went to live in Fal, that's a city up North."

"I've heard of it." Harry put in, nodding.

"They were living there for awhile on the streets until they ran into Ginny one day. But they didn't know they even _had _a little sister. So, they became friends and then they all ended up escaping Fal together and going up to the mountains." Ron finished. Then he leaned in conspiratorially. "My mum says they Apparated."

"What's that?" Harry questioned, eagerly wishing he knew as much as Ron did.

"It's disappearing and reappearing somewhere else, like this." Ron snapped his fingers. "It's supposed to be really hard and they didn't know any magic at all so it's a bit of a mystery as to how they did it."

"Wow." Harry gasped. "Your family sounds really interesting." In Harry's mind, nothing sounded more fantastic than growing up in a family full of wizards. "Can everyone in your family do magic?"

"Yep." Ron looked proud. "What about your family?"

"My mom and dad could—at least that's what Hagrid said." Harry wished he knew more about them. Maybe Hagrid would tell him more later. "My aunt and uncle, and my cousin, they couldn't do any magic…"

_But they can make you feel worthless…_

"That's alright." Ron shrugged, clearly seeing no problem with it. "Know any spells?"

"Nope." Harry shook his head.

"Do you have your wand?" Ron pulled a long, thin piece of wood from his pocket. "Sometimes I can make it shoot sparks."

"Yeah?" Harry thought that was very impressive himself. "I don't have a wand."

"How can you be a wizard without a wand?" Ron questioned.

"I dunno." Harry was suddenly worried. Was he supposed to have a wand? What happened to it? The Dursleys burnt that letter…what if his wand had been inside? A cold feeling of dread crept into his stomach and stayed there. He heard a small squeaking noise coming from Ron.

"It's Scabbers." Ron immediately pulled out a rat from behind himself. It wasn't a very impressive looking rat, but Harry had always wondered what it would be like to have a pet. Ron really did seem to have everything. "He's old and useless but my mom says we can't afford—" He cut himself off and turned red.

_They can't afford a new one? _

_ Does he mean he's poor? Well, what's wrong with that?_

But Harry could tell that his new companion probably didn't like discussing this particular matter. They continue to talk about other things until they stopped and went over to the side of the road to pitch some tents and have some dinner.

"Why didn't we stop at an inn?" Ron pondered out loud.

"People don't like ter see me." Hagrid grunted as he hammered a peg into the ground for one of the tents. When they were finished and Hagrid was cooking an animal over the fire, Harry decided to ask him about his wand.

"Don' worry abou' that." Hagrid assured him. "Dumbledore's got it. Yer parents thought it'd be safer—turns out they were right."

"Oh." Harry felt the worry vanish into thin air.

"It's a long ride yet…" Hagrid looked off into the distance. "I expect you'll both be wanting something ter do tomorrow."

"What?" Harry didn't mind just talking to Ron for the next couple of days but could see how they might run out of things to talk about. Hagrid began to fish through his enormous coat and pulled out miscellaneous items such as a ball of red string, a ring of keys that had so many on it that Harry thought it was probably impossible to find the right one on the first try, and a huge bag of toffees, which he let Ron and Harry have. Then he pulled out what looked like a worn deck of playing cards and then what might have been a set of marbles.

"Gobstones and a pack of Exploding Snap cards." Hagrid explained them. "Me dad gave 'em to me when I was little." Harry glanced at the huge man. He couldn't really imagine Hagrid ever being what people called 'little'.

"Cool!" Ron eagerly pounced on them and began going through the cards. "Do you have a chess set too?"

"Nah, never understood it." Hagrid shook his head. "You like chess then?"

"Yeah," Ron nodded, barely looking up from the cards. "It's my favorite game. My mum has a set of wizard chess which is much better than regular chess because the pieces actually fight each other."

"Really?" Harry was wide-eyed. "They fight each other?" He had a sudden mental image of two knights tussling over a rook.

"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how much you don' know." Hagrid slapped his knee. "You'll learn it all when we get to the castle."

"The castle?" Harry wanted to know more about the places he was going to learn magic. "What's it like there?"

"It's beautiful." Hagrid declared. "It's deep in a valley, surrounded by mountains. It was built a thousand years ago, by four of the greatest witches and wizards to have ever lived. They built it as a safe place in bad times and these are bad times…"

"It sounds amazing." Harry sighed happily. "I remember my Aunt Petunia talking about how she'd love to live in a house as huge as the Malfoy manor…wherever that is. Is it a castle?"

"Practically, but the lot that lives there is scum." Hagrid spat. "Dark wizards through and through. And we'd never call our castle a manor…"

"What'd you call it, then?" Ron looked up from the cards. "Something like, 'The Laurels'?" He noticed the looks Hagrid and Harry were giving him and he blushed. "It's something I read in a book." He muttered defensively.

"We call it Hogwarts." Hagrid beamed with pride. "The four founders named it really. All four of 'em had a sense of humor about them. Fer the most part."

"Hogwarts?" Harry grinned, a delicious feeling of happiness spreading through him. "I think that's a lot better than 'The Laurels'." Ron groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"I have a question." Ron straightened up. "How'd you get that scar, Harry?"

"I don't know." Harry reached up, brushing his fingertips against the scarred skin. "I've always had it. Do you know Hagrid?" He glanced over at the giant man who suddenly seemed very preoccupied with stoking the fire.

"Not really the one you should be askin'." Hagrid grunted, not looking up at all. "Dumbledore's the man for that."

"My dad says that Dumbledore's the greatest wizard that ever lived." Ron shared this piece of knowledge with them. Harry was still stuck on the subject of his scar. Was Hagrid lying about not knowing anything? Or did he really have no idea? Something wasn't quite measuring up.

_I guess I'll find out everything…when we get to Hogwarts…_

* * *

They spent their days traveling, playing game after game of Exploding Snap and Gobstones. Scabbers would sometimes wander into the middle of the game of Gobstones, which irritated Ron but always made Harry laugh.

As they traveled on, longer and longer, Harry felt like it was some wonderful journey they were on. After all, he was going off to a school where he would learn magic, but even getting there was better than all the rest of his life put together. He hoped that he and Ron would still be friends when they got to Hogwarts.

And then one day, Hagrid announced that tomorrow they'd get to Hogwarts. They were in the Northern mountains by then and Harry couldn't say how happy he was to get this far. For days he and Ron moaned that the mountains weren't getting any closer and now they were there. The next day, they were going through forest and Hagrid stopped several times. From the sounds of voices, Ron and Harry figured that there must be people stationed around to make sure no one got to Hogwarts who wasn't supposed to be there.

He kept peering out the window but saw nothing but forest all around. Until, suddenly, put a bump, they were out of the forest and in an open valley. He saw a lake on one side but then the carriage turned and he got his first glimpse of Hogwarts. It was a large castle, made of enormous pieces of stone that looked like you would need magic to lift. (Harry reminded himself that the builders probably _did _use magic.)

It looked almost ordinary, sitting in the middle of the green valley. There were enormous double doors in front and when they rolled to a stop, Harry could barely contain his excitement. Ron next to him was trying to get a grip on Scabbers who had suddenly began to squeak in a terrified manner and kept trying to crawl away.

"Hold still, Scabbers!" Ron muttered in frustration. Hagrid opened the door to the carriage and Harry blinked in the sudden rush of daylight. He stumbled out, Ron right behind him.

"Welcome to Hogwarts."

* * *

**To Be Continued**

* * *


	4. Part the Fourth

So far so good, right? Hmm, maybe. Anyways, I've been working on the more complicated plot lines for the big stories, it's weird to think this is the last part of the small stories…And then we can get into the big arc of stuff. Thank you for your patience.

Note: Yes, while reading the sixth book, Jade's chest swelled with pride when she read about the Inferi. Perhaps now people (read: Teresa) will stop making fun of the name of this series.

Pobbin: Pobbin, more and more lately, I have noticed that my author notes regularly include a disclaimer, a warning, and a little note to you. I want you to know that seeing '6k' next to how large a review is for a story that I wasn't sure anyone would like is always deeply appreciated. I'm glad you liked my Hermione there…I was really worried about not getting her right. Anyways, about this story, the chess thing…okay, you caught me. I didn't think anyone would notice but Teresa and I did it to freak her out, it doesn't _actually_ mean anything, but I'm rather proud that anyone noticed. As always, I look forward to your reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Warnings: Oh, the usual…

* * *

**Fool**

**Part the Fourth**

* * *

Hagrid took their bags from them, insisting he could carry them, and that should be shown to their rooms. Harry smiled gratefully up at him and he could have sworn by the twinkling in Hagrid's eyes that Hagrid was smiling back down at him.

"Come on!" Ron tugged on Harry's arm. "We're here!"

The doors opened, although Harry couldn't see who had opened them, and they stepped inside. It was a huge front hall, with staircases and doors twisting off of it. Harry wondered where everyone of them led and hoped that it would be okay to do some exploring later.

"This way." Hagrid gestured up one of the staircases and the two boys ran ahead of him, playfully shoving one another as they were so glad not to have to spend another day in the carriage.

_This place is fantastic!_

At the top of the stairs, there was an archway and framed perfectly in it was a tapestry, hanging on the wall. It depicted four people and was so amazingly done that Harry thought it had to be done by magic.

The first figure, on the left, was a pretty, pink-cheeked blonde haired young woman who was so good natured looking and smiling in such a manner that you felt yourself smiling back. She was wearing a long yellow dress and in her arms was a plant pot, which a healthy growth of large yellow flowers were flourishing.

"This tapestry is of the founders. Done by one of their first students, girl named Arachne." Hagrid explained the tapestry proudly when he noticed both boys had stopped to look at it. "That one," He pointed to the blonde haired young woman, "That's Helga Hufflepuff. And the one next to her," He gestured towards the next one, a young man whose cunning, almost smug, face was framed in green-black hair. There was a snake twisted around his shoulders and in one upraised hand, he was holding a vial of green liquid. "That's Salazar Slytherin. Then there's Godric Gryffindor." He paused to let them take in the noble young man who looked like what Harry always imagined a knight looked like. His brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail but his brown eyes belied his noble stance as they were twinkling with mischief, as though he were waiting for the picture to be done so he could get into trouble. In his right hand, pointing at the ground was a sword, gold with rubies inset into the hilt. "And the last one's Rowena Ravenclaw." The last woman had blue hair and was extremely pretty but it was obvious she was rather wise as well, from the way her deep penetrating eyes seemed to be looking right through you. In one arm she was holding a book and in her hand a quill. "It's somethin' isn't it?"

"Excuse me." A girl's voice interrupted them and they turned to their right to see a young girl, about Harry and Ron's age, standing there. She had rather untamable hair which red ribbons were trying to keep back and an ink smudge on her cheek. At her feet was a ginger colored cat which had a red ribbon tied around its neck. "Have you seen a toad? Neville's lost him _again_." From her tone, it was clear that this sort of thing was always happening.

"Hello Hermione." Hagrid greeted her.

"Oh, hello Hagrid." The girl, presumably called Hermione, beamed at him. Then she turned towards them. "You must be the new students. McGonagall told me that there would be a couple of new arrivals in the next few days, but she didn't say much more than that—although," She stopped to take in Ron. "You must be another Weasley!" She clapped her hands together. "Ginny told me she had another brother coming…" She trailed off and turned to Harry. "And…well, I suppose you don't have any family here, either then? That's me too."

"I'm Harry Potter." Harry offered a hand out to her.

"I'm Hermione Granger, you'll absolutely love it here, I've only been here for a couple of months and I positively adore it. The library is huge and full of all these fascinating books on so many subjects—I don't think I'll ever be able to read them all—which is a shame—and the teachers are all really good and the rooms are nice, even though you have to share, but that's okay because everyone's really nice except for a couple of people but I just ignore them anyways." She said all of this in one breath. Ron and Harry stared at each other.

"I'm Ron Weasley." Ron decided to just go with it. She smiled at him.

"Well, Crookshanks and I are going to look for Trevor. If you see a toad…" Hermione trailed off as she started to walk away, her large ginger colored cat following her.

"We'll tell you." Harry promised. As soon as she was out of ear shot, Ron leaned over to whisper into his ear.

"Mental." He muttered in reference to the girl who just left.

"Now for your rooms…" Hagrid led them down the direction Hermione had come from and soon, they went through a pair of doors into a large common room. There were two fireplaces, one on either end and there were couches and chairs set up for people to relax in. There were a couple of book cases and lots of windows, but the room was devoid of people. "It's a nice day out; suspect the others are outside."

Then they went into another hallway, which was lined with doors. One of them opened.

"We'll see how long it takes that jumped up Granger to figure out where Longbottom's toad is." A blonde haired boy sneered as he walked out, a rather bored and cold-faced boy right next to him. "Maybe I should feed him to that stupid cat of hers…"

"I don't even see why you bother." The boy next to him rolled his eyes. Then the first boy turned to see the group in the hallway. His blonde hair, pale skin, and pale blue eyes made him rather good-looking but Harry didn't think he looked very nice, from the expression of disdain on his face and from what he had just heard the boy talking about.

"We've got company, Nott." The blonde-haired boy looked at them haughtily. Then his face fell a little. "_Another _Weasley? They really are starting to clutter up the castle…" Ron stuck his chin out a little.

"You better keep your comments to yerself, Malfoy" Hagrid warned the blonde-haired boy. "And I better hear you gave Longbottom back his toad as well, or I'll be reportin' you."

"We were just having a bit of fun." The blonde-haired boy, Malfoy, scowled. "What's the crime in that?" He took a few steps closer to the group, his eyes going from Hagrid to Harry in a matter of moments. His eyes narrowed for a moment and he then straightened up a bit.

"I mean it." Hagrid reiterated but Malfoy wasn't paying attention.

"What's your name?" Malfoy questioned Harry.

"Harry Potter." Harry answered warily.

"Well, Potter, I see you've already been introduced to the Weasley clan. But you should know that some wizards are much better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort." He offered his hand out. "I'm Draco _Malfoy_, I can help you there." He put extra emphasis on his last name, as though it would mean something to Harry. And it did. Harry remembered what Hagrid said about them all being dark wizards…if so, then why was Draco Malfoy here?

"I can figure out the wrong sort for myself, thanks." Harry ignored his hand. Ron grinned next to him. Draco's eyes narrowed dangerously and his mouth tightened. Obviously, he was not happy with this reply.

"Come on Nott, we have better things to do with our time." Draco stepped around them and the boy once more rolled his eyes and walked off after Draco. Ron immediately turned to Hagrid.

"I thought you said the Malfoys were all bad wizards." Ron said in confusion.

"I did. But Dumbledore says he was thrown out of his house, same with the other boy, Theodore Nott. Couple o' bad lots." Hagrid shook his head. "But if Dumbledore says it's alright…"

"He didn't seem very nice." Harry commented. That seemed like an understatement.

"You don' have to worry abou' him." Hagrid reassured the two of them. "Now, here's your room…" He opened one of the doors and stooped down to come in after them. It was a large room with two of everything. Two beds, two desks, two dressers, two windows…Harry and Ron immediately claimed their beds by bouncing on them a few times.

Hagrid dropped off their bags and told them that Dumbledore would probably send for them later, but in the meantime, they should probably meet the rest of the students. Harry and Ron were unpacking, almost wanting to skip to go meet the others.

"It's too bad we haven't run into any of your brothers." Harry commented.

"Well, Charlie and Bill are already done with schooling and they do work for Dumbledore—I don't know exactly what." Ron unpacked a cage and put Scabbers in it. Scabbers didn't seem to like his cage but gave up his squeaking protest after a few moments. "Percy's almost done…but Fred and George and—argh!" Ron, who was standing by his bed, suddenly fell over. Harry saw that a hand was holding his leg, a mottled green hand, which ugly clawlike fingernails.

"I want your blood…" A terrible raspy voice whispered. "I want to devour your flesh." Ron yelped and tried to scramble away.

"Ron!" Harry rushed forward, grabbing Ron's arms and trying to pull him away from the green hand, which held on tightly.

"Help me Harry! Don't let it devour my flesh!" Ron's eyes were wide with terror. All of a sudden, the hand let go, and instead of the horrible voice saying anything else, there was an outbreak of laughter.

"That was _priceless_!" One voice exclaimed, wheezing with laughter. "He was about to wet himself!"

"It's the only way to welcome him to the family." An identical voice replied and two boys crawled out from under the bed. They were completely identical and Harry blinked several times, because it looked as though the person was standing next to a mirror or something. They even blinked at the same time.

"Hullo Ron." One of them clapped a hand down on Ron's shoulder. "I'm Fred."

"And I'm George." The other one clapped his hand down on Ron's other shoulder. "We're your brothers."

"That was a stupid prank." Ron, red-faced, muttered to the floor. "I was just pretending to be scared."

"'Don't let it devour my flesh!'" Fred imitated and George pulled out the green hand, which turned out to be a sort of glove. He chased Fred in a few circles around Harry and Ron before the two sat down on Ron's bed.

"And who are you?" George asked Harry.

"I'm Harry Potter." Harry wondered how many times he'd have to introduce himself that day.

"We'll take you two outside." Fred explained. "It's easy to get lost—"

"In a place this big." George finished for his twin. "That's where everyone else is. Except that git, Malfoy and his faithful sidekick, Nott."

"We've already met them." Ron told the two sourly. "I can't believe you two are my brothers, how could you do that to family?"

"That's what a family is for." Fred explained as the two got up. "Now let's get going—it's a nice day out—and George, stop using that hand to pinch my bottom."

"I don't know what you're talking about." George put on a staged face of affronted innocence and Harry laughed. The twins sure were entertaining, to say the least. When they got outside, through a side door, Harry saw that there were some young people hanging around by the lake.

"Here they come!" Fred and George trumpeted together. "Presenting, Harry Potter and this bloke who came with him."

"Hey!" Ron protested but the twins just ignored them.

"Ron?" A pretty, red-haired girl, looked up from where she was making little birds out of paper. She dropped the one she was halfway done with and ran over to Ron, throwing her arms around him. "It's you! It's been ages!"

"Hi Ginny." Ron grinned, patting her on the back. "It's good to see you're okay too."

"Never been better." Ginny beamed. Then she turned to Harry. "You must be Harry Potter, then."

"Nice to meet you." Harry shook her hand.

"Oh, it's you two again." Hermione walked over to them. "Trevor's been found. Crookshanks did it for me." She grinned down at her cat. Harry suspected that the only reason Crookshanks found the toad was because Malfoy had gone through with his threat.

"I-I'm glad." Ron nodded.

"Let me introduce you to everyone." Hermione gestured towards the other people. They followed her around to each person. They first went up to a happy, round-faced boy who was holding a toad. "This is Neville Longbottom."

"Hello!" Neville greeted them, looking a little shy. "Hope you like it here." Then next came a boy was sitting away from Neville and had been preening in a mirror until he saw they were there and then put the mirror away quickly. "This is Blaise Zabini."

"Good afternoon." Blaise greeted them. He had rather high cheekbones and bright blue eyes, his face almost looking feminine. Hermione rolled her eyes and continued on.

"He's much more interested in his reflection then anything else." Hermione explained and Harry saw that he once more had his mirror out now that they were away. He also saw Blaise glance around his mirror at Ginny Weasley, who didn't notice him as she walked along with them. "And this is Tonks!" Harry looked up to see a girl about Fred and George's age who had short spiky black-blue hair, a heart-shaped face, and twinkling blue eyes. Tonks let out a laugh and then closed her eyes for half a moment—turning into a perfect copy of Hermione, albeit a little taller.

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed in amazement. "How did you do that?"

"She's a Metamorphmagus." Hermione answered promptly. "I've read all about them in the library, they can change their appearances at will and…" Hermione's lecturing voice continued on but Harry let it fade to the background. Tonks stood up on the rock she was sitting on, turned her appearance back, and jumped on George's back. George tossed Fred the fake hand. Fred took out his wand and tapped it once. The hand wiggled a little and then jumped out of Fred's hand and onto Tonks' back.

"AHHHHHH!" Tonks screamed, not really scared, but more going along with the joke. She let go and started rolling on the ground.

"…But in 1435, I think it was…" Hermione frowned and saw that no one was paying any attention to her. "Well, let's leave them to it." Ginny stayed behind to watch as Tonks pulled out her wand and said muttered something. Harry glanced over his shoulder again to see Fred suddenly dancing a jig, quite uncontrollably.

"You aren't _supposed _to do magic when no teachers are around." Hermione told Ron and Harry.

"Ah, come on, Hermione. Let them have some fun." They all turned to see a very pretty girl standing there, with long black hair.

"This is Cho Chang." Hermione explained. There was another girl standing a few feet away with white-blonde hair, who was humming to herself, and looking as though she had wandered there quite by accident. "And this is her roommate, Luna Lovegood."

Ron tried to stifle his snigger at this name but it appeared that Luna Lovegood didn't notice. She looked up dreamily at the two of them.

"Hello." She nodded at them and then turned her attention to the Tonks, Fred, and George, who were now demonstrating how well they could do hand stands and turn cartwheels for Ginny. "Look how energetic they are…I wonder how the twins have any energy left for what they get up to in the broom closet…" Then she wandered away. Ron and Harry blinked. Hermione let out a nervous giggle.

"Luna's a little…" Hermione tried to think tactfully. "Well…she's really nice." She finished lamely.

"And weird." Cho giggled into her hand. "When she first got here, you see that bag she has tied to her waist?" Harry could make out a small bag that was attached to Luna's waist. "It's full of seeds." Ron and Harry stared. "Don't ask me why." Cho flipped some of her hair over her shoulder. "But, the first time she saw Instructor Snape—he teaches us Potions—she threw a handful of them at him. Funniest thing I ever saw…"

"Why'd she throw seeds at him?" Ron asked.

"I have no idea." Cho laughed again. "Well, I'm going to go see what the others are up to." She waved over her shoulder and walked off. Hermione sniffed in disapproval.

"Cho, she's really nice." Hermione repeated her past compliment. "A little vapid…but nice."

Harry turned to see all the others and grinned to himself. From the Dursleys to a place full of people like him. Maybe he wouldn't get along with all of them but still…

It was perfect.

* * *

**The End**

* * *

It's done! Dun, dun, DUN! So, next are the big stories…okay, to explain something, I know, I know, nothing terrible happened to Harry, other than his years living with his aunt and uncle, so why didn't something happen to him like it happened to the other kids? Well, it's because he's the main character of the rest of the stories so I thought I'd cut him a break. I hope you'll tune in for the next story, **The Eternal Snowlands**. It's romping good times. 


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